Route risk mitigation

Abstract

A method is disclosed for mitigating the risks associated with driving by assigning risk values to road segments and using those risk values to select less risky travel routes. Various approaches to helping users mitigate risk are presented. A computing device is configured to generate a database of risk values. That device may receive accident information, geographic information, vehicle information, and other information from one or more data sources and calculate a risk value for the associated road segment. Subsequently, the computing device may provide the associated risk value to other devices. Furthermore, a personal navigation device may receive travel route information and use that information to retrieve risk values for the road segments in the travel route. An insurance company may use this information to determine whether to adjust a quote or premium of an insurance policy. This and other aspects relating to using geographically encoded information to promote and reward risk mitigation are disclosed.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 receiving, from a first processor in communication with a location detection unit located in a vehicle, a travel route of the vehicle; 
 retrieving, by a second processor in communication over at least a wireless network with the first processor, a segment value for each of a plurality of road segments corresponding to the travel route of the vehicle, wherein each segment value is based at least on accident information corresponding to each of the plurality of road segments, wherein the accident information comprises accident loss information and direction of travel at accident location; 
 aggregating segment values, by the second processor, to calculate a route value for the travel route of the vehicle; and 
 sending, by the second processor over the at least a wireless network to the first processor located in the vehicle, the route value for the travel route of the vehicle. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein accident information comprises number of vehicle accidents. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein accident information comprises at least one of: vehicle direction at time of damage, accident time, and accident date. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the route value is a predetermined risk category comprised of low, medium, and high. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each segment value is further based at least on accident location information corresponding to each of the plurality of road segments. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 ,
 in response to receiving, by the second processor, a request for a risk value associated with a particular location, sending, by the second processor over the at least a wireless network to the first processor located in the vehicle, a value associated with a road segment containing the particular location. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is associated with a vehicle insurance policy, the method comprising:
 calculating, by the second processor, a total risk score for the travel route of the vehicle based on the aggregated segment values; and 
 adjusting a cost of the vehicle insurance policy for the vehicle based on the route value, wherein the adjusting is further based at least in part on the total risk score. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the vehicle is designated in a predetermined class based on a total risk score, and the adjusting of the cost is further based at least in part on the predetermined class. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 transmitting, by the second processor, a notification to a policyholder of the vehicle insurance policy of a credit based on the cost of the vehicle insurance policy is less after the adjusting. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 generating a notification, by the second processor, of an option to renew the vehicle insurance policy before terminating the vehicle insurance policy; and 
 displaying in the vehicle, by the first processor, the generated notification of the option to renew the vehicle insurance policy. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 receiving, at the second processor, geographic information corresponding to the plurality of road segments; and 
 wherein the calculating of the total risk score is further based at least in part on the geographic information. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 in response to receiving a request for a risk value associated with a particular road segment of the plurality of road segments, sending, by the second processor, a value associated with the road segment considering vehicle direction through the particular road segment. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the route value is calculated using an accident cost severity rating approach. 
     
     
       14. A system comprising:
 a location detection unit, located in a vehicle, configured to detect locations of the vehicle comprising at least a start location and an end location; 
 a first processor in communication with the location detection unit; 
 a second processor in communication over at least a wireless network with the first processor; 
 a computer memory storing instructions that, when executed by the second processor, causes the system to:
 receive, from the first processor in communication with the location detection unit located in the vehicle, a travel route of the vehicle; 
 retrieving, by the second processor in communication over at least a wireless network with the first processor, a segment value for each of a plurality of road segments corresponding to the travel route of the vehicle, wherein each segment value is based at least on accident information corresponding to each of the plurality of road segments, wherein the accident information comprises accident loss information and direction of travel at accident location; 
 aggregating segment values, by the second processor, to calculate a route value for the travel route of the vehicle; and 
 sending, by the second processor over the at least a wireless network to the first processor located in the vehicle, the route value for the travel route of the vehicle. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the vehicle is associated with a vehicle insurance policy, and wherein the computer memory stores instructions that, when executed by the second processor, further causes the system to:
 calculate, by the second processor, a total risk score for the travel route of the vehicle based on the aggregated segment values; 
 adjust a cost of the vehicle insurance policy for the vehicle based on the route value, wherein the adjusting is further based at least in part on the total risk score; and 
 based on the safety risk score of the route, debit an account associated with the vehicle insurance policy. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the computer memory stores instructions that, when executed by the second processor, further causes the system to:
 in response to receiving, by the second processor, a request for a risk value associated with a particular location detected by the location determination unit, send, by the second processor over the at least a wireless network to the first processor located in the vehicle, a value associated with a road segment containing the particular location. 
 
     
     
       17. A non-transitory computer-readable memory storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
 receive, from a location detection unit located in a vehicle, a travel route of the vehicle; 
 retrieve, over at least a wireless network, a segment value for each of a plurality of road segments corresponding to the travel route of the vehicle, wherein each segment value is based at least on accident information corresponding to each of the plurality of road segments, wherein the accident information comprises accident loss information and direction of travel at accident location; 
 aggregate segment values to calculate a route value for the travel route of the vehicle; and 
 send, over the at least a wireless network, the route value for the travel route of the vehicle.